PRS-950 950 will not connect to computer but 350 does

I've had a 350 for several weeks now and never had any problems with it connecting to my desktop running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. I bought a 950 today from Best Buy, charged it for several hours using the included charger and cable. I charged it until the red light went out indicating a full charge. I then tried plugging the USB into my desktop and then into the 950. It started to install the driver, but I got a driver installation failed message. I tried restarting the computer and resetting the 950, but it won't connect. I tried my 350 and it connected right away.

When I try to connect the 950 I get a blank screen with "USB connected" written at the top, then eventually get the "Charging Stopped" message as it seems to be confused about the USB.

I used the Chat support from Sony and got no useful info. They said I had to take it back to Best Buy or send it to them for repair. They also said the driver for the 350 is the same for all their readers. They think the micro-USB port on the 950 isn't working correctly, but I seriously doubt it would have charged the 950 if that was the case. As usual, the Sony Chat was useless.

Anyone else encounter this problem?

Otherwise the 950 seems to work okay, although the WiFi is painfully slow. We have high speed internet, but the 950 takes a long time to download books from the store via WiFi. I also noticed that the search function in an ePub (Lord of the Rings) was stupidly missing some searches.

I love my 350, but I'm not feeling much love for the 950 or Sony.

[SeaBookGuy]

In reading your remarks, you seem less-than-thrilled with the internet function, even if you could resolve the driver issue. My take on it anyway. You really sure you need both devices?

I don't need either one as my K3 works just fine. The 350 has been resetting about every 2nd or 3rd time I turn it on which makes startup take a long time. But I put up with it because I like the portability. I was hoping to use the 950 for PDFs and landsape reading of ePubs in two-column mode, but it looks like it will be headed back to BB tomorrow as nothing I do can get it to connect. I could still use it, but if it is broken right out of the box then other things could also be bad on it. Since Sony seems not to care since I didn't buy it directly from them, I'll take it back and get a refund.

[vxf]

I have Windows 7 32 enterprise and my PRS950 has not given me any problems - except occasionally giving me the "Charging stopped" message. It has happened a couple of times and unplugging and re-plugging the USB cable solved the problem each time.

I did not notice WIFI being slow. But I am not enthusiastic about the browser, to be honest... I am probably spoiled by my iPad...

[SeaBookGuy]

I'm not sure what you mean by "resetting"? I read 2-column PDF's in portrait quadrant mode on my 650; I think it'd work for me on a 350 as well, so I wouldn't swap a 950 that's malfunctioning for another just for that. Get your 950 money back and enjoy the 350 portability.

[Bookworm_Girl]

jswinden, could you exchange it? Sounds like maybe you got a bad unit? I find the Wi-fi on the 950 to be at least as fast and typically faster than my K3 (v3.0.3). As an example, I downloaded a 10MB file from the Reader Store over Wi-fi in less than 1 minute.

I finally took some time away from the new 950 and sat outside enjoying the night air. Then I remembered that I have a netbook with Windows XP. When I came inside I tried connecting to the netbook and it did so without a problem! I wonder if there is some sort of conflict with having the 350 on my desktop. Or perhaps there is another conflict with some device. Well at least I know the 950 is okay and so I will keep it. Now I just need to try to find the conflict and get the 950 where it will connect to my desktop where I keep all my ebooks and apps.

BTW, I'm still miffed at the lousy Sony support, but they will never change I guess!

@Bookworm_Girl, Now that I can connect to a PC I won't worry about the WiFi. I seldom use WiFi on my K3 and I probably won't use it much on the 950 either. Eink screens are not the best devices for internet surfing.

@SeaBookGuy, the attached photo shows why I like the 950 for reading ePubs in landscape with two column mode. It also shows the customized fonts. I know this is not appealing to everyone, but I like the feel of the 950 in landscape and the look of two columns, and being a lefty I find the buttons easy to use for page turning when I hold it that way.

...

[Bookworm_Girl]

Good luck! I'm not a Windows 7 user so I can't offer much more advice.

Sometimes fresh air does wonders for one's perspective. Maybe a good night's sleep will help too. If you have enough patience, then maybe you could try Sony again and see if you get a different tech with better knowledge to help you? Or try the email or phone support instead of chat?

I agree the browsers aren't that great on either the K3 or the 950. I wish the 950 had an article mode view like the K3 though. If I want to surf the internet on a handheld, then I've got my iPhone. So far I've only been using the Wi-fi on the 950 for wikipedia. It has worked fast and smooth for that purpose.

[SeaBookGuy]

Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for the update and further info!

I'm still ... miffed (shall we say) that Sony fixed the library book conflict for the 900, and refused to go back and firmware a resolution for the other models.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Glad it worked out for you, and thanks for the update and further info!

I'm still ... miffed (shall we say) that Sony fixed the library book conflict for the 900, and refused to go back and firmware a resolution for the other models.

SeaBookGuy, you mean fix the library book conflict on the older models like 505/300/600, right? Didn't they fix for it the 350/650? If not, then that would make me mad too.

[SeaBookGuy]

Yes, they did fix it going forward on the 350/650's - one of the very first things I tested when my 650 arrived!

[jpearson]

I received the Sony Daily Edition for Christmas. This is my first ereader and I like it, mostly. Sometimes it is a little sluggish connecting via WiFi and the touch screen doesn't always respond quickly. I can live with that, but I cannot get it to connect to my Windows 7 x64 PC - anymore. It connected once, but now the Reader does not show up in the eReader Library desktop software. Ideas anyone?

[estral]

I know a lot about MS operating systems and discovered that my 950 will not connect reliably.

After much troubleshooting I discovered it is related to the USB (both Microsoft and/or Logitech) keyboard/mouse drivers on my machines. You should not have any troubles connecting to a notebook computer. I have confirmed this on Windos 7 32bit and 64bit machines.

You can fix the problem by just unplugging your keyboard and reconnecting it to the computer. This will allow your computer to reload the driver. Allow the 950 to sit connected to the computer for 5 minutes, or so, before you assume the link has failed. Depending on a lot of variables it may just take a while.

The problem is a "memory leak" in the 950 driver only. My prs-650 works fine. I have been trying to work with Sony but it has been a challenge.

FWIW

Uncle Eric

Originally Posted by estral

I know a lot about MS operating systems and discovered that my 950 will not connect reliably.

After much troubleshooting I discovered it is related to the USB (both Microsoft and/or Logitech) keyboard/mouse drivers on my machines. You should not have any troubles connecting to a notebook computer. I have confirmed this on Windos 7 32bit and 64bit machines.

You can fix the problem by just unplugging your keyboard and reconnecting it to the computer. This will allow your computer to reload the driver. Allow the 950 to sit connected to the computer for 5 minutes, or so, before you assume the link has failed. Depending on a lot of variables it may just take a while.

The problem is a "memory leak" in the 950 driver only. My prs-650 works fine. I have been trying to work with Sony but it has been a challenge.

FWIW

Uncle Eric

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I do indeed have a Logitech wireless mouse plugged into my Win 7 desktop. I'll temporarily replace it with a non-Logitech one and see what happens.

EDIT: It still won't connect.

[estral]

FYI

I have had this problem with an MS and Logitech keyboards and mice.

The trick here is to force a reload of the keyboard and mouse drivers, at least with the MS keyboard and mouse.

Uncle Eric